For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s Health Issues page, Genetic Engineering page, and our Millions Against Monsanto page.

A stunning theft of our rights is happening now-right under our collective noses. We’re losing the right to manage our personal health as we see fit. It’s a right so basic that no one ever thought to list it among the rights of free speech and assembly. Who could ever have imagined that something so basic might come into question?

That, though, is exactly what is happening. Some of us try to do battle, but we’ve been focusing on losses as they occur. We combat genetically modified foods, loss of access to vitamins and herbs, and much more. The war is being fought on so many different fronts that we’re all suffering battle fatigue. We win an occasional bout, but lose most, which adds to our frustration.

Can this war on our personal rights be won? Are our children destined to have no choice about what they eat or how to treat illness?

I must believe that we can won, but since introducing and dealing with the Stop the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive Petition, it has became obvious that a new approach needs to be found. Fighting Skirmishes, Not the War

We’ve been focused on each incursion as it’s brought to us. But we haven’t looked at the overall picture. Even if we win a large percentage of these battles, we will still lose the war. The foes of health freedom will keep coming. When they lose one battle, they come back from a slightly different direction.

Take a look at what’s just happened in the battle against genetically modified (GM) organisms. We’ve won skirmishes here and there, but then what happens? The profiting corporations and the agencies in charge find other ways to get what they want. And they’re getting cleverer and quicker in their methods.

The application for approval of Monsanto’s Scott GM Kentucky bluegrass by the USDA resulted in an outcry against it. It looked like we were winning. Then, a week ago, the USDA quietly-very quietly-announced that they will no longer even put up a show of controlling certain GMOs, specifically Monsanto’s Roundup Ready Kentucky bluegrass.